Eclipse
by xMemoriesx
Summary: Set three weeks after New Moon.Isabella Swan has been through too much since her arrival at Forks, Washington. Is she ready to go through more? With the dangerous Victoria after her, and new threats to the Cullen family, will she pull through?
1. Preface

-1

At first, I had forgotten how badly it hurt. Nearly two years since I last felt that kind of pain, and with Edwards refusal to leave my side for more than two hours since that day in Volterra, how could I not have forgotten?

It felt like a fire slowly consuming my body, the hot flames lapping at my flesh with a ferocious hunger. How badly I wanted to be outside, back in Forks, where it seemed to always rain, so it would quell the blaze that seemed _buried _within my skin.

But more painful than the blistering inferno was the fact I could not see, hear, or feel my Angel; my Edward. Where was he? I knew I knew, but my mind was so preoccupied with concentrating on the pain, I could not seem to recall. How I wished he was holding me right now. I knew his icy skin would dull the flames.

An aching shudder ran up my spine, which was arched in sickening pain, and sent the flames in a frenzy. I was sure my limbs would fall off to lie beside me as shriveled, dried sticks. I think I may have let out a scream, but I wasn't sure. How could I be? How could I lock my concentration on anything right now? I couldn't.

I opened my eyes, surprised to find out they had been closed, and a sea of bronze hair engulfed my weakened vision. _Edward_… My mind may have never been more detached- except from maybe those months that passed while Edward had left me- but I knew, I I_knew _who's lovely hair that was.

"Edward…" The name spoken felt so wonderful. It was like an sedative for the fire, dulling it; clearing up my muddled mind a bit. I drew long, shaky breaths through my nostrils, inhaling his intoxicating scent.

His cold, hard hand stroked my forehead softly. A soft moan escaped my lips, the tears that had been held captive by my pale lids spilling out of the sides of my eyes. I felt his thumb wipe a few away.

He brought his mouth close to my ear. I felt my heart stutter and then revive itself, beating so furiously against my ribs I thought it would burst through. My breath caught, and all pain vanished momentarily when he began to hum my lullaby into my ear, with that angelic velvet voice of his.

He placed small kisses all over my face, without stopping the melody I so loved to hear. Time seemed to stand still as he pressed his icy, smooth-as-glass lips to my own. I wanted to pull him closer, honestly I did. But the pain- though oblivious to my mind, entrapped by this beautiful angel- was still flowing like poison throughout my veins. It made me horribly weak. I tried lifting my arm, but it would not budge.

Against my lips he murmured, "Bella… I'm so sorry… But I have to go now… You're going to make it, Bella… You're going to pull through with this, but you'll have to do it on your own…" I felt him pull away from me, rather jerkily, an instant later. I gasped for breath, my eyes snapping open and expecting to see him standing above me again. He was not, though.

I felt a tidal wave of pain drag me under, cutting off my air supply. I heard a bloodcurdling scream, inhuman and disturbing. Even as I drowned in my hurt, I wondered where it came from. A minute went by and more of these screams filled me. Then I realized they were coming from me.

From that moment on, I knew I was going to die.


	2. The Beginning of Summer

Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't remember if it ever said anything about it being the end of the school year for Bella, Alice, and Edward. I would look, but I had to borrow it from my friend and I haven't read it more than once yet. D: Ew there's a buggy on my desk. -kills it.- Sweet dreams. Please read and review** **  
**

My life had never been so complicated. Between falling in love, to losing my best friend not to mention my love is a vampire, and his family are also vampires, and my best friend is a werewolf, the past two years in Forks had been quite hectic. In a good way.

I turned the key stuck into my truck, shutting off the extremely loud engine. My eyes flickered over to where Edward and Alice were waiting for me. I smiled and opened the door, thankful that the last day of school was finally here.

In a heartbeat Edward was there, holding out his hand to me and staring up at me with those beautiful topaz eyes of his. The faintest hint of a smile haunted his lips. I took his hand and hopped down, and he closed the door for me. What a gentleman.

"Good morning, Bella," he whispered softly into my ear. His cool breath tickled me and sent a shiver down my back. Seeing my reaction, he smiled my favourite crooked smile and pulled back, taking my hand in his.

I sighed a little as we headed towards Alice, who stood patiently waiting. Edward seemed to walk slower than usual today, and I suspected it was because he wanted to spend as much time as he could with me before today was over. School wasn't the only time we could spend together, but Edward and I both knew that once school was over, I would have no excuses to escape the house I was confined to. Charlie still had me grounded. Extra points added to my sentence for the motorcycle. Another ten points for lying to him about my hospital visit.

When we reached Alice, she strolled along beside me, keeping the same pace. Her eyes were darker than Edwards today, but they held the same warmth, the same luster. I beamed at her and she smiled in return.

"How was your night, Bella?" She threw a wink at me, and I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. It was always so noticeable, when I blushed. My skin was so white it would be impossible not to see my blush, no matter how faint it was.

"Fine," I mumbled, casting my gaze to the ground.

Edward had snuck me out in the middle of the night while Charlie was asleep. He had taken me back to the meadow, and we looked up at the thick clouds. We both described the prettiest starlit night we'd seen. I told him about the time when I was young, only seven. Renee had taken me camping and we watched a shooting star jet across the sky. I would never forget that trip. It had been the last camping trip I had with my mother before Phil came in.

He had told me something so filled with impeccable detail it was hard not to imagine it. In 1982, he and his family were in Alaska, visiting Tanya and her family. Alice, Jasper, Emmet, and Edward waited outside in the darkness of the arctic world, when dozens of meteors flew by overhead. The heads were a white, and the tail was a brilliant blue. The way he described every flicker of the flames had me really envisioning it happening. Sadly I was brought back to the dull grey reality of Forks when he finished.

The rest of the night had been spent with us mostly me sharing stories of our pasts. I'd have liked to hear more about him. Ah, well, when I was changed, we would have forever to tell our stories.

"'Fine'? That's it?" Alice looked rather disappointed. I stole a glance at Edward, and our eyes met.

"Don't look at me that way," he warned, knitting is perfect eyebrows together. "I didn't tell her."

I looked back at Alice, and she smiled sheepishly. "I seen it coming." She tapped her head with two fingers, and I suddenly felt stupid.

That's right. Alice could see into the future sometimes.

"Oh." I stared hard at the ground, frowning deeply and blushing twice as hard. Silly me, how could I have forgotten something like that?

Alice separated from Edward and I, making her way to her own classroom. When we reached mine, Edward paused at the door with me. He let go of my hand, his fingers sliding against mine almost wistfully, and he bent forward and kissed my cheek.

"I'll see you at lunch," he promised. I smiled, sure he could hear my raging heart even behind it's prison walls. What couldn't his kisses do to me?

"Alright." I held up my hand in goodbye, watching him walk away until he was out of sight. It wasn't as long a wait as I would have preferred, but oh well. I turned my heel and traipsed to my seat.

The next few hours were spent talking about how important college was, and if we hadn't thought much about it this year we should put more thought into it next year. I tuned their voices out. College was still plan B.

My mind wandered during the hour-long lectures. I thought about that night a few weeks ago, when Edward had proposed. I hadn't said yes, but I hadn't said no either. I was still debating whether or not I should wait. If I let Carlisle change me, I wouldn't have to get married. The thing was, though, I really wanted Edward to do it.

By the time lunch rolled around, my decision was leaning more towards letting Carlisle change me. I wasn't ready for engagement, much less marriage. I was too young. My mom made the mistake of marrying too young, and I look where she and Charlie ended up. Charlie alone, and Renee with a baseball player. I didn't want to leave Edward for a player of any sport. Imagine how disastrous our life would be.

I could picture it as I walked slowly to the lunch room. Family outings would have to include a readily available ambulance and some first aid for the more minor wounds. If we had kids, they would be into sports but extremely clumsy. I shuddered at the thought.

Edward was in his seat with his tray of food that would go, uneaten, into the trash bin. I sat beside him and sighed, resting my forehead on his shoulders.

"Something the matter, Bella?" He looked at me with those burning, liquid gold spheres. I think I melted a little.

"No…" My voice was breathless. "I'm just tired from hearing all of those lectures."

He nodded, understanding. How many of those lectures had he been through? Eight? Twelve? Twenty? I was going through it my first time, and if I were changed soon, I'd be going through it many more times.

That aggravated me.

A small price to pay for spending an eternity with my beloved.

Alice danced over to the table with a tray full of props. She sat down daintily on the opposite side of Edward and me, picking up an apple and examining it. "These look so good," she mumbled. "So red… Sometimes I wish I could eat one." She smiled as if it were a joke, and placed it back onto the tray.

I didn't feel like eating. Something about thinking over the engagement and being changed unsettled my stomach. Was it fear? Even so, I had no desire to eat. Edward seemed to notice I hadn't gotten a tray, and he pushed his own towards me, encouraging me to take some of his food. It would go to waste otherwise. Like always.

I lifted my head from his cool body and shook it. He frowned.

"Something is the matter… What is it?" He spoke very quietly, so only Alice and I could hear him.

"Nothing," I insisted. It wasn't really a lie. There was nothing wrong with debating with yourself. "I'm just not hungry." I flashed my most convincing smile at him, but I don't think he was too convinced.

"Alright… am I coming over today?" He knew the answer already, I don't really know why he asked.

"If you want to."

"Of course I want to."

"Then come over."

"Alright, I will." He finished, the corner of his mouth twitching and threatening to lift his lips into a smile. I grinned widely, showing all of my teeth. In turn, he gave into his twitching lips.

"What a drag," Alice sighed. I looked at her oddly, worried for a minute she felt left out. Her lips pursed. "If Charlie would just ease up… you wouldn't be being hogged by Edward. We all miss seeing you."

I smiled, a little embarrassed.

"I like hogging Bella," Edward retorted. His eyes flickered from Alice to me several times. "You know that." He winked at me. I flushed.

Alice rolled her lovely eyes, scoffing. "So greedy." She grinned in spite of herself, and stood with her tray of food. Edward did the same, and both gracefully glided towards the bin, where they threw out their props.

I followed shortly after, grabbing my things from the table as the rest of the cafeteria slowly began to rise.

We made our way through the doors and Alice once again separated from us. I waved to her and followed after Edward to our Biology class. We took our seats next to each other and I frowned as Mr. Banner entered. I smelled another lecture coming on.

The moment sound began to spew from his mouth I pulled out my notebook and a pencil. I caught only a little of what he said. It was the same as every other teacher had said to me, except explained in different terms. I doodled on the corner of old notes.

Edward peered at me, his face serious. He whispered very softly to me, just loudly enough for me to hear him. "What are you drawing?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly. It looked like a dog, I suppose, but with no snout and two extra legs. "A mythical animal?" Mr. Banner coughed loudly and gave us a look, stopping our chatter.  
He chuckled softly, bringing his thumb to his lips. He pulled the notebook from my hands and pulled out a pen. Turning to a clean page, he began to scribble in that old-fashioned way of his.

_Do you want to go to the movies?_

My eyes flickered up to his. I took the pen from him and wrote.

_I can't. Charlie's got me on lockdown, remember?_

He smiled mischieviously.

_Tell Mr. Banner you're suddenly ill, and you need someone to escort you to the nurse. I'll go with you and we'll get Alice an leave. Nobody will care, it's the last day. You have gym next, I'm sure nobody will mind._

He smirked at me, and I felt heat rise in my cheeks. I stuck my lower lip into a pout, trying to look insulted. It didn't work, because Edward's smirk only grew. I gave in and shrugged, signalling to him the plan was now in motion.

I waited a few moments, trying to get myself to look sick. I paused my breathing for a few seconds, and then only took in shallow breaths. Repeating this over and over I began to feel dizzy. My hand shot weakly into the air.

"Bella?" Mr. Banner looked at me, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't feel well," I mumbled raspily.

I must have been convincing, because he said, "Why don't you go to the nurse? Can you make it there on your own, or would you like someone to take you?"

I stood, forcing myself to wobble a bit. Edward shot up, concern etched into every aspect of his beautiful face, and pressed his hands lightly against my shoulders as if to steady me. "I'll take her," he said, looking to Mr. Banner with those molten hues. He simply nodded.

"Have a nice summer, you two," he said, bidding us farewell as we walked through the door. We walked halfway to the nurse's station before turning a corner and heading towards the parking lot. Alice joined us not five seconds later.

"So what movie are we seeing?" She walked behind Edward and I as we neared the car. She must have seen what was coming the moment Edward thought up going to the movies.

"You should know," Edward mused. "So why don't you tell us?"

"_Dracula's Army_." She smirked, amused. "It's about 'scary' vampires." She laughed out loud, a beautiful ringing noise. Edward left my side to get into the driver's seat, and Alice opened one of the back seat doors and slid gracefully in. I took my place in the passenger seat and the moment I buckled myself in, we were off.


End file.
